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Dentonites will soon have another option for pizza in the downtown area, when NY Pizza and Pasta opens next week.

At the corner of West Hickory St. and South Carroll Blvd., the restaurant is taking the spot Smiling Moose Deli, which closed in November last year.

A family from the Bronx owns and will manage the restaurant, said Nexh Nokshiqi, who is helping open and run the restaurant with his father. Of course, they specialize in New York-style pizza, Nokshiqi said.

This will be their second restaurant, with the first in Benbrook. Right now, they are also working to open a third location in Grapevine. They expect to open sometime after Monday, though the exact date has not been set.

On Thursday, Facebook held its free Small Business Boost event. More than 500 local entrepreneurs packed into the Lewisville High School Harmon campus to learn how to advance their presence on the social platform.

“I grew up watching my dad work hard to build his business so I understand the challenges small business owners face,” she said. “That’s why it was so exciting for me to talk to 500 Metroplex small business people today about how Facebook can make growing their businesses a little bit easier.”

Before Ferritto gave her presentation, Ray Hernandez, president of the chamber, introduced a special guest speaker: U.S. Representative Michael Burgess, R-Lewisville.

“You will not find an elected official that’s more committed to removing the impediments of progress for the entrepreneur,” Hernandez said.

Hernandez said the chamber is trying to create relevant programming important to its members. But, he was surprised with just how many members attended that normally don’t make it to events.

“Facebook is a strong advocate for small business and a strong partner that we can bring together,” he said. “It’s important that we invest our time and energy into teaching platforms for our members to be successful.”

After the presentation, Ferritto held a panel discussion with two local business owners and a question and answer session. Jayden Frost of vintage toy store DFW Vintage Toys and Cynthia McMillion of consignment shop DFW The Shoppe, shared tips and best practices from their experiences.

Andy Stone, the policy communications manager at Facebook, said the company goes all around the country holding these events.

“Often, the panel with business owners resonates most with the audiences because they patronize those businesses,” he said. “We choose the panelists based on their success and ability to use different Facebook tools.”

Jayden Frost was a singer songwriter for about 20 years, touring for a living. He lost his voice on stage a couple years ago, right after he married and became a father. At the time, he had a little storage building filled with toys he would buy and sell as a hobby.

Not knowing what to do to support his wife and child, he decided to turn it into a store. The Lewisville storefront, just 500 square feet, filled with the toys.

Frost said that, without Facebook, his company would not have grown and 95 percent of his customers come from the social platform. His Facebook page has almost 37,000 likes and he has opened a larger storefront in Carrollton. The company now has an eBay account to branch out nationally.

“MySpace wasn’t working,” Frost joked during the panel session.

He said the biggest benefit Facebook has given him is the ability to directly target customers who live in the area and like comic books and science fiction.

“We still have a ton of customer base in Lewisville and will eventually open another storefront in Lewisville,” he said. “When it goes to paying for these ads, don’t be afraid to go big.”

Frost said that when he first got the call, he was skeptical it was real.

“It checked out, and after that I was very excited,” he said. “I work very hard at this little business, run it myself, so for someone to recognize all our hard work was awesome. If you’re a small business and aren’t using Facebook, you’re missing out big time.”

In the U.S., more than 30 million small businesses connect with customers through Facebook. Company representatives stopped in Austin on March 11 and Sugar Land on March 13.

U.S. Representative Michael Burgess, R-Lewisville, and the Lewisville Area Chamber of Commerce will co-host the event, welcoming entrepreneurs. Jayden Frost of vintage toy store DFW Vintage Toys and Cynthia McMillion of consignment shop DFW The Shoppe, will share tips and best practices from their experiences.

The check-in and networking expo start at 9:30 a.m. at Lewisville High School Harmon Campus Cafeteria, 1250 W. Round Grove Road. The program will run from 10 to 11:30 a.m.

In the U.S., more than 30 million small businesses connect with customers through Facebook. Company representatives will also stop in Austin on March 11 and Sugar Land on March 13.

Local whiskey and rum distillery Witherspoon Distillery is moving spaces within Lewsville.

By fall 2015, the crew hopes to be operating in the new space at 225 S. Charles St, where Piggly Wiggly once stood.

While the new location is only about a mile from where the distillery currently stands on North Cowan Avenue, it will be closer to the downtown Lewisville area.

The business opened in 2013, but has outgrown the current space. To commemorate the upcoming move, the distillery is already selling new t-shirts to let people know they are moving to the old Piggly Wiggly space.

FILE – In this Nov. 14, 2011, file photo, billionaire investor Warren Buffett speaks in Omaha, Neb., at an event to raise money for the Girls Inc., charity organization. Warren Buffett’s annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders is always one of the best-read business documents of the year. The 2015 letter, due to be released on Saturday Feb. 28, marks the 50th year of Buffett’s leadership. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik, File)

Warren Buffett, Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, will speak on the importance of community partnerships at an exclusive Live BIG Benefit Event from 6 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, April 8 at Nebraska Furniture Mart, 5600 Nebraska Furniture Mart Dr. in The Colony.

The benefit event will feature Buffett, live entertainment, food and drinks and a silent auction (including Buffett-signed memorabilia) as guests peek in the retail store – soon to be the largest home furnishing store in America.

Ticket are $75 and proceeds benefit Cancer Support Community North Texas. For more information, visit cancersupporttexas.org.

Service Industry, owned by Matt Slider and JB Paschal, focuses on craft cocktails and a social, yet quiet, atmosphere.

The Hickory Street spot is the second location for Muddy Jake’s, which also operates in Sulphur Springs. General manager Lonnie Fox said the sports bar is hoping to host events, like live music and stand-up comedians.

Others businesses opted to close because of the weather, including Hickory & Fry, The Chestnut Tree, Hannah’s Off The Square, la di da and Shoe Fly, Garden Gate, The Courthouse Collection and DATCU Credit Union locations.

Brothers Marty Garvey (left) and Greg Garvey (right) display hamburgers at Jake's Hamburgers in Uptown, which they co-own. This is the McKinney Avenue store location.

Jakes Hamburgers will celebrate its 30th anniversary by opening a new location in Flower Mound at the beginning of April.

The burger joint, which uses meat ground at the Fort Worth Stockyards, will occupy the corner of FM 3040 and Gerault Road. The restaurant offers breakfast, lunch and dinner. It will include a full bar and patio, with servers and bartenders.

Marty Garvey co-owns the local chain with his brother, Greg.

“We’re looking forward to opening out in Flower Mound,” he said. “There are not quite enough good food options in that part of town, so we feel like it’s a good fit for the town and our restaurant.”

It will be the local chain’s ninth location. For updates, visit jakesuptown.com.

Flower Mound resident Mani Bhushan will open the third location of his fast-casual restaurant Taco Ocho by early summer in the River Walk Market shopping center, next to Market Street. It will serve food inspired by classic Latin cuisine. For more information, visit tacoocho.com.

Since late November, In-N-Out Burgers has been serving its popular west coast style burgers to The Colony. The new 3,750 square foot restaurant is located on the southwest corner of the Sam Rayburn Tollway and Plano Parkway — across from the Nebraska Furniture Mart. For more information, visit in-n-out.com.

Panera Bread will also open near the Grandscape development. City Council approved development plans for a 4,300 square-foot restaurant at its Feb. 17 meeting. The restaurant will be directly west of In-N-Out. According to Planning and Zoning commission minutes, the company plans to start building in late March, open by July. For more information, visit panerabread.com.

Raising Cane’s scheduled to open its first location in The Colony at 3851 Plano Parkway, just south of the other developments, in June.

“I have received feedback from many of our customers that they have been waiting for a Raising Cane’s to open in The Colony, so we believe this is a win for everybody,” Luke Overman, Area Director of Operations said in a press release.

This will be the Louisiana-based chain’s 28th restaurant in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. It will be the company’s first location built with new and larger prototype specifications. For more information, visit raisingcanes.com.

Lewisville/Flower Mound editor Adam Schrader can be reached at 214-773-8188 and @schrader_adam on Twitter.

More stores and restaurants have signed on to join Rayzor Ranch Town Center, including In-N-Out, Raising Cane’s and Chili’s.

In a meeting with economic development investors last night, Scott Wagner, a vice president with the project’s developer RED Development, said the three restaurants could open in the spring or summer of 2016.

Additionally, the first strip of retail space planned for the town center is more than halfway leased. However, store announcements won’t be made until more of the space is leased. This portion is expected to open by fall 2016.

In Wagner’s presentation, he also fielded questions about bringing a higher-end grocery store like Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s. These “specialty” grocers tend to join projects once they are already established, Wagner said. For example, Whole Foods didn’t join The Shops at Highland Village until 2014, even though the center began opening stores in 2007.

Public infrastructure improvements are set to break ground “soon,” before the buildings start going up, Wagner said.